How affordable is the Seattle Aquarium?

Are the sea cuties like this otter and pup worth the $19 admission price at the Seattle Aquarium? (photo from seattlepi.com archive).

The Seattle Aquarium’s recent annual report to the city was mostly positive: Its transition from city to non-profit management had gone smoothly, its cash position was “strong” and fundraising goals had been met.

But one question emerged with no tidy answer: How affordable is the aquarium for middle-class families?

The aquarium bumped up its adult ticket price by $2 this year, for a total of $19. Youth tickets remained at $12.

For a family of two adults and two kids age 5 and up, that’s a $62 outing. Affordable?

Affordability was a concern for the city last year, after it handed over aquarium management to the non-profit Seattle Aquarium Society. The City Council required the agency to study ticket and membership pricing as part of its annual report.

“We’ve all, I think, struggled with trying to define what is affordable, and what is affordable for a middle-class family,” legislative analyst Kieu-Anh King said at a City Council Parks committee briefing last week.

Aquarium chief executive officer Bob Davidson responded by saying his staff had surveyed ticket prices of other aquariums and of other attractions in town. He said the study found that the aquarium’s admission fell in the mid- to lower-mid range.

He also said attendance was up this year over last year by 3 percent. That suggested the $2 ticket increase was appropriate, officials said.

“There’s no apparent evidence at the admissions desk that this is having a deterrent effect on having middle-income families coming to the aquarium,” Davidson told the committee.

He also said the aquarium distributes 30,000 to 40,000 free tickets a year to underserved communities. Only about 20,000 of the tickets are redeemed. Davidson said the aquarium wants to strengthen that program.

“We recognize that for a significant group in our population that even charging in itself is a barrier to their coming to this aquarium,” he said.

About 800,000 people visit the aquarium a year, a number the institution wants to grow in the coming decades. With a master plan to expand its footprint and spruce up aging exhibits, the aquarium hopes to attract 1.1 million a year by 2020.

So how affordable do you think the aquarium is? For a little context, here’s the adult admission price for a few other attractions: